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Collocations for lie - noun

ADJECTIVE

big, big fat (informal), great, monstrous
He told a big fat lie!
little
absolute, complete, downright, flat-out (AmE), outright, total
That's a downright lie!
little white, white
A little white lie is surely excusable.
deliberate
bald-faced (AmE), barefaced, blatant, obvious, transparent
elaborate
a web of elaborate lies
outrageous
vicious

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VERB + lie

be
That's a lie—I never said that!
tell (sb)
believe, swallow
How could she swallow such a blatant lie?
expose
live
He lived a lie for thirty years, ‘married’ to two women.

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lie + NOUN

detector

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PHRASES

a pack of lies, a tissue of lies, a web of lies
give the lie to sth, put the lie to sth (= prove that something is not true)
spread lies (about sb)

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Collocations for lie - verb

1. be in a flat position

ADVERB

down
He was lying down on the bed.
there
He just lay there smiling.
comfortably, helplessly, limply, peacefully, quietly

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PREPOSITION

on
She lay on her stomach.
in
She likes to lie in bed all day.

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PHRASES

lie asleep, lie awake
I used to lie awake at night worrying about it.
lie dead, lie unconscious
A man lay dead in the middle of the road.
lie face down, lie prone (formal), lie prostrate (formal)
He was lying face down in the mud.
lie face up, supine (formal)
Lie face up with your feet on the floor.
lie flat
I was lying flat on the floor.
lie motionless, lie still
Lie still while I put the bandage on.
lie naked
She was still lying naked on the bed.
lie sprawled
She lay sprawled on the sofa.

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2. say sth that is not true

ADVERB

convincingly
He was unable to lie convincingly.
easily
constantly, repeatedly
blatantly
deliberately, intentionally
completely, outright, totally (all AmE)

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PREPOSITION

about
She lied about her age.
to
Don't lie to me.

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PHRASES

lie through your teeth
lie under oath

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Lie is used with these nouns as the subject:
challenge, corpse, crux, danger, destiny, difference, difficulty, dilemma, distinction, dust, explanation, farm, fog, greatness, guilt, hair, hand, hope, house, loyalty, mist, remains, route, shadow, snow, success, talent, taste, truth, value, weakness

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